Sermon Tone Analysis

*Women In Covenant for the Glory of God*

 “*Out of Lo-Debar with The Emergence of a New Attitude*”

 

! *2 Samuel 9:3-5*

!

*Phil.

2:1-8*

 

    Attitude is not such a large word in the English language, but it has endless meanings and connotations.

Perhaps you heard about the Yankee shoe salesman who went to Africa and wired his manufacturer, “I want to come home.

Nobody wears shoes in this part of Africa.”

So they brought him home and sent another salesman who shipped back order after order.

He wrote the home office, “Everybody here needs shoes!”

            Attitude can be found within and without a person.

It can be sensitivity, an awareness or insight; it can be a reading one person does of another, like a first impression; it might be an opinion, or the conduct and deeds of person; it may simply be a person’s style or approach that gives knowledge of their attitude.

On the other hand, attitude might show up in one’s stance.

By that I mean, one could pose an attitude in which case it is mere masquerade or façade; or hold a position that is a pretense.

One might have a certain bearing on a situation, and on that basis have a certain demeanor, a certain air, and a certain behavior about them.

And sometimes, and most often we see attitude depending upon a person’s position in life, their location on the opportunity continuum, their spot in life or their financial situation.

Today, we want to find attitude’s place among women who are bent on making covenant with one another.

Women who are in agreement, in harmony, willing to come together, join together in an all out amalgamation under the banner of  “Glory for God.”

We need to answer individually, is it a masquerade or is it real?

To get to that point, the point of harmony, the point of covenant, I believe that one central thing may be necessary.

That thing is change.

We *must* determine from our texts today three things:

1.

Is there a “*Need to Change*”

2.   Is there a “*Way to Change*”

3.   Is there a “*Result to Change*”

To begin our quest, we need to go to a place where most of us have at least visited, and I dare to venture a few may live.

It’s a place referred to in 2 Samuel, a place called *Lo-Debar*.

Let me give you a little background first and bring us up to speed on Lo-Debar.

After fighting and winning many battles, it was now that King David had time to reflect and he remembered a promise that he had made to an old friend.

He remembered how he promised Jonathan to always show kindness to his house because Jonathan had promised to warn David of Saul’s intentions towards him.

David began to inquire about Saul’s family.

He wanted to know if there were any survivors, anyone left.

His motives were pure.

He meant them no harm, but on the contrary, well.

He wanted to show the kindness of God to someone in Saul’s family.

David finds out that there is a son of Jonathan still live.

A son described as being crippled in both feet.

Crippled in both feet but in more ways than one.

You will remember that when this son, Mephibosheth, was 5 years old, his nurse thought that he would be killed as a potential heir to King Saul, so she set out to hide him.

In her haste, she fell and landed on top of him, injuring both of his feet.

So, yes, he was lame, he walked with a wretched limp and without sport.

His feet looked disfigured from years of an untreated condition, and no one wanted to give him foot rubs.

But Mephibosheth was crippled in other ways, as the word in the original language suggests.

He was crippled in life.

He was a most unhappy fellow; miserable, pitiful, pathetic and always down; depressed and dejected.

He was a measly little man.

Have you ever been around a person like that?

Unless you are in the same condition, you don’t want to be around them too long.

They are always whining or feeling sorry for himself or herself.

They are full of doom and gloom; always pessimistic.

You know, the “glass is half empty” folk?

Surely all of his life he’d heard what had happened to him because of his nurse.

He’d heard how he could have been king.

Oh, he’d heard about the relationship between David and his father Jonathan; how close they were and their enduring love for one another.

But he’d also heard about the undying hatred that his grandfather had for David, and his relentless efforts to kill the young man.

He’d heard how David was mighty in war and would probably kill him on sight, as was the custom of a new king to secure his throne.

And on top of all of that, his grandfather’s top warrior, Machir, had taken him in; and he had come to live in Lo-Debar - A place with a name that means “no pasture” or “no word”.

There was no grazing land, no meadow, and no enclosure.

There were no attachments.

He had a young son, but he did not know affection.

There was no tenderness, no warmth, no love and no regard for his person.

He just existed without hope.

It was in Lo-Debar that his attitude formed.

He felt useless and unwanted.

He had settled in his mind long before that he was a “nobody”.

He had lost all of the wealth and privilege that would have been his had his father lived.

There was nothing left of his royal- ness, only stories told to him by his nurse and hecklers.

He had lived his whole life at the mercy of others.

His attitude was set and it was tight.

How do I know?

Because even after the king sent for him and he is in the presence of the king who immediately assures his safety, he refers to himself as a dog (useless, unworthy and disinterested) and questions the king’s motives.

Mephibosheth *came out* of Lo-Debar.

He was called out of the barren place, the place of wretchedness; the place of long time depression; the place of squalor; the place of lace; the place of darkness and dejection.

He came out, but he came with the same old attitude that had plagued him his whole life.

Now, I don’t know you’ll up close and personal, but I just bet somebody in here this afternoon is living with the same old Lo-Debar attitude.

Now, don’t misunderstand.

The old Lo-Debar attitude doesn’t have to be one that is down on self.

It just could be one that is down on others.

Some of you have been called out of Lo-Debar, you’ve come out of the darkness but your path is clouded because your eyes are still dim.

You still think that you are unworthy; that you can’t make it; that there is always a trick to things.

Even among the sisters you hold back; you don’t give your all to programs and events because you don’t want to risk being rejected.

You think that your opinions are mundane and trite.

You think people are judging what you have or don’t have rather that who you are and what you offer.

*You need to change!*

Now those of you sitting here smug and with your noses pointed up because those adjectives don’t fit you, you might need to take a closer look inside.

You think that you really got it going on.

You got the job that brings home the bacon and the eggs and grits on the side; you’ve got the education and the know-how; people constantly seek you out for your expertise and insight; you tithe and give offering; you drive new cars and wear fine clothes.

I think Paul would have something to say, like, “*You, too Need to Change*.”

You can’t be in true covenant with your present attitude.

You might as well find a ball to go to, because you are just a masquerade.

One thing I like about Paul, he doesn’t just admonish you and leave you hanging.

He also gives the antidote to what ails you.

You see, as Paul wrote this letter to the Philippians, our other text, he was apparently addressing a double threat to the unity of the local church body.

For one thing, false teachers were coming in from without and secondly, there were disagreeing members within in the persons of Euodia and Syntyche.

The Bible does not tell us what their disagreement was about, but I will take a little liberty here.

These women were probably deacons (not deaconesses) or hostesses in a local house church.

They had work along side Paul in his ministry buy his own assertions.

Now, Euodia, was apparently (for lack of a better term) smelling herself.

She had this attitude of highness and that she was all of that and a bag of chips.

She didn’t realize that a bag of chips is really no big deal, just a lot of fat and grease in a dead potato that has absolutely no beneficial qualities, other than to puff you up so you appear to be more that you really are.

I can surmise this and take this liberty because he name in the Greek means “fragrance.”